Active Citizens - Khulumani Support Group - Khulumani Support Grouphttp://www.khulumani.net
Tue, 31 Mar 2015 18:05:04 +0000Joomla! - Open Source Content Managementen-gbExperiences of the PAIA (Promotion of Access to Information) Civil Society Network of access to information from both state and private bodieshttp://www.khulumani.net/active-citizens/item/1057-the-sharpeville-commemoration-a-view-and-concerns-from-khulumani-sharpeville-committee.html
http://www.khulumani.net/active-citizens/item/1057-the-sharpeville-commemoration-a-view-and-concerns-from-khulumani-sharpeville-committee.html

The infographic (attached) reveals that in the words of Melissa Fourie, Director of the Centre for Environmental Rights,

“Accessing basic information such as mining licenses, social and labour plans, water use licences and environmental management programmes – documents that are readily and publicly available in other countries – is a constant battle. Government and several industry players actively seek to prevent disclosure and government often refrains from exercising its regulatory oversight adequately….. This frustrates the realisation of constitutional rights that depend on the ability of individuals, communities, civil society organisations, companies and decision-makers to access this information."

The PAIA infographic tells the poor level of both state and private sector responsiveness to civil society applications for access to information.

Khulumani Western Cape Executive Committee member, Mr Brian Mpahlele reported that Khulumani was one of 10 NGOs / CBOs that took part in the mass meeting about the unacceptability of the cell phone jamming that happened on the night of the State of the Nation Address by President Zuma on 12 February 2015.

Brian expressed the exhiliration of being amongst a crowd of some 2,000 individuals who had come together to make a stand in defence of Parliament as a forum for holding the President and his Executive accountable.

Khulumani Support Group is a member of the National PAIA Civil Society Network, a coalition of organisations that works for the achievement of transparent and accountable government through empowering its constituencies to apply the country's now 14-year old legislation on the promotion of access to information, PAIA.

Khulumani was the very first organisation in South Africa to use the then-new and untested legislation enacted in 2000, which had been modelled on similar legislation in Sweden.

When Khulumani applied in 2000 for access to the draft reparations policy produced by Special Adviser to then-President Mbeki, Professor Rwelamira, as a matter of intense and continuing concern to Khulumani with its focus on restoring the lives and dignity of survivors of apartheid crimes and atrocities, Khulumani's PAIA application was refused. Attorneys from ODAC (Open Democracy Advice Centre) brought the matter to court but the case was dismissed on grounds that the state's first priority was to settle the unhapppiness of the IFP in respect of the findings of the TRC. Khulumani was never provided with Professor Rwelamira's proposals for reparations. Sadly in respect of the main issues that focus Khulumani's efforts to secure justice for the victims of apartheid atrocities, this track record has continued to the present with only one request being approved, but never delivered on.

The one request that was approved was for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide the list of TRC-identified victims along with their TRR numbers to Khulumani. Individuals with TRR (Truth, Reparations and Rehabilitation) numbers are those whom the TRC identified in its very limited processes as eligible to apply for reparations.

At the time, the DOJ also agreed to provide Khulumani Support Group with the list of the more than 3,000 individuals with TRR numbers who seemingly chose not to apply for their reparations grant, in most instances on grounds that they did not personally need the financial assistance of R30,000.00 that the policy provided. Khulumani knows that some had hoped that these funds would be allocated to help to restore the lives of other survivors of apartheid atrocities who had seen almost no change in their circumstances post-apartheid.

It has been Khulumani's hope that these funds could be committed to the group-based psychosocial rehabilitation programmes that Khulumani has developed in the absence of the existence of any similar programmes in the state.

Sadly, the agreement to provide this information to Khulumani has yet to be fulfilled. Meetings with the responsible officials in the DOJ have failed to produce the information.

This video is produced by Khulumani Water for Dignity and will be screened at the International Conference on Gender and Water taking place in East London from November 3 - 7, 2014.

Khulumani Water for Dignity will have 3 representatives at the conference and will be making a presentation on 5 November 2014 in the capacity as chair of the Eastern Cape Water Caucus.

The conference programme is attached.

]]>interact@khulumani.net (Khulumani Support Group)Active CitizensTue, 28 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000To Supporters of the Gogos and Mamas: Making the connectionshttp://www.khulumani.net/active-citizens/item/1025-to-supporters-of-the-gogos-and-mamas-making-the-connections.html
http://www.khulumani.net/active-citizens/item/1025-to-supporters-of-the-gogos-and-mamas-making-the-connections.html

A special story from Merle Conyer who offered a much appreciated self-care workshop to 12 Khulumani group facilitators in September 2014 which included crafting blankets to represent symbols of the sources of nourishment that enable the facilitators to keep on keeping on.

In 2014 I returned to my birthplace South Africa after a long absence, and wanted to honour the transition of the past twenty years and the people who contributed to this.

A proposal I had written found its way to the desk of Marjorie Jobson who is the national director of the civil society organisation, Khulumani Support Group. This eventuated in a 3 day residential retreat with twelve African women who are facilitators with Khulumani and carers within their communities.

During the retreat each woman adorned a blanket with meaningful imagery. The unique and practical objects serve as precious reminders of strengths, connections and relationships that are meaningful and helpful on a journey towards their own self care, recovery and healing.

Each woman shared the meaning of her blanket with the group. When one of the lady's, Gladys, revealed what she had created there was a large beaded banner with the words "Gogos and Mamas". Below the words were images of men and women representing those who had been cared for, supported and enabled through Gogos and Mamas. Gladys spoke about her gratitude and the positive rippling impacts from being part of this group.

I had heard of the Gogos and Mamas (in Sydney, Australia) as I have known Michelle Favero since we were teenagers ... when the penny dropped I felt amazed by the serendipity and overwhelmed to witness the benefits first hand.

The message I share with you is that Gogos and Mamas is profoundly touching the lives of people in South Africa. The apartheid years were brutal, and life is still very hard for many people. The women I met were often caring for others such as orphaned grandchildren and living day by day with financial hardship and social insecurity, at the same time as contributing towards strengthening and healing within their communities.

Through this serendipitous and chance encounter I am able to convey to you that the funds raised for Gogos and Mamas truly make a difference in the lives of the people you touch.

Makana’s water service delivery could be improved if the ‘One Street, One Tank’ project initiated by the Khulumani Water for Dignity Project is successful.

Khulumani has installed the first three of five pilot tanks in Extension 10 in Grahamstown and hope to have fifteen more in place by the end of the year.

The Khulumani Group is working with various stakeholders notably Unilever and UCWEQ who are donating R100 000 towards the project.

Project Manager Mbulelo Lipile says “the One Street One Tank project is our dream to overcome the inequity of water access in Grahamstown”.

The plan is that each tank will be under the care of a member from the Makana Community Water Forums facilitated by Khulumani, and the water shared by the residents of one street. A wall has been built on the tap side of each tank which will be called the ‘Wall of Hope’. The ‘Wall of Hope’ will be brightly decorated and even display advertising in order to encourage people to see the tank as an asset.

In this way the walls should help alleviate the problem of vandalism. Unfortunately, a wall at one site has been pulled down by vandals already.

“Jealously is a problem, and also people feel frustrated by the water crisis in general so they vandalize” said Lipile. “This is why we have to make sure there is proper communication about the project and that members of the forum look after their tanks”.

But others feel optimistic about the tanks, senior resident Thembe Ngqwana says that, “I’m are happy about the tank, because when there is no water there is nothing we can do. I can’t speak to anyone from the municipality so I can only go and ask people for drinking water.”

The premise of the initiative is that water is essential to attaining ones constitutional right to life and dignity, Khulumani hopes with more capabilities people will be able to add their part to this responsibility.

Khulumani warmly welcomes Ms. Franziska Reiger a Social Work Final Year Student from Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences in Berlin in Germany. Franziska is committed to the use of different types of art forms to express social issues within a critical social work framework. She will be working with the Soweto-based Khulumani Youth Empowerment through Forum Theatre Group until the end of March 2015.

The project’s main output will be the development of an after-school programme to promote life skills and school safety through introducing Forum Theatre activities to groups of 25 learners at each of three Soweto High Schools as well as introducing Forum Theatre to a youth correctional facility in Krugersdorp on a weekly basis. The programme activities will focus on issues of substance abuse and their relation to gansterism as well as on interpersonal violence and its impact on young people.

Franziska has launched a funding and sponsorship site to provide support for these activities. This can be found at www.betterplace.org/p20475

The attached photo is of Ms. Franziska Rieger with Mr. Bonginkhosi Mayepu, the leader of the Khulumani Youth Forum Theatre Group

On Friday, 19 September 2014, several hundred Khulumani members gathered at the Lusikisiki College of Education from Khulumani groups from across the O.R. Tambo district in the Eastern Cape. Amongst their concerns was the need for updates on the struggle for Justice and Redress and for clarity about payments that are apparently being made to land claimants in the Flagstaff region (45km north of Lusikisiki).

It is clear that there is a great deal of confusion about what is happening in respect of the reopened land claiming processes. Khulumani is committed to finding out information about this situation and whether local people should be paying for this assistance as is currently happening.

The monthly Transdisciplinarity Seminar held at the Environmental Learning and Research Centre was led by the Khulumani team in Makana Municipality on 21 August 2014.

The topic was 'Complexity in Community Relationships' and focused on the requirements for 'the dominated' to act to change their circumstances through making organised and effective demands through asserting a tactical agency. This is defined as 'discerning and making use of possible opportunities to find a way or to use one's own means.'

Historical consciousness is understanding "who I am in the context of how others have made me". (Sartre) while critical thinking is the political act of stepping beyond common-sense assumptions to evaluate them in terms of their genesis, development and purpose to discover that "I am able, (through my individual capacities & collective possibilities) "to go beyond the created structures in order to create others"; that I can escape my history (the place designated to me by the existing powers) to work with others to actively shape history. Emancipatory behaviour is acting to overthrow structures of domination.

The introduction was followed by presentations by Mbulelo Lipile on the application of the framework for citizen-based monitoring recently approved by the Cabinet, by a presentation of the status of the Makana School Water Forums and by a review of the media coverage of water issues in South Africa over the past year using the Daily Sun and the weekly Grocott's newspapers.

Today UNILEVER Homecare Division visits Grahamstown to meet with the Khulumani team involved in the 'One Street One Tank' campaign through which the team is erecting Walls of Hope where clean water can be accessed because the tank is cared for by a Community Water Forum. Below are photos of stages of development of the project.